Facts (PDM)

Facts define the focus of the data to be analyzed and how it is calculated. Examples of facts are sales, costs, employee hours, revenue, budget. Facts contain a list of measures, which represent the actual numerical data, and are surrounded by dimensions, which control how that data will be analyzed.

• Creating a Fact
  Facts are generally generated from operational database tables or views. You can also manually create facts from the Toolbox, Browser, or Model menu.
• Fact Properties
  To view or edit a fact's properties, double-click its diagram symbol or Browser or list entry. The property sheet tabs and fields listed here are those available by default, before any customization of the interface by you or an administrator.
• Measures (PDM)
  Measures are mapped to numerical columns in fact tables and aggregate the values in the columns along the selected dimensions. For example, when a user chooses to view the sales in Texas in 2012 Q1, the calculation is performed via the Sales measure using a Sum aggregation. Measures can also be based on operations or calculations or derived from other measures.